It would seem that there's lots of talk about super insulated air tight passive housing, I assume they still use fridges/freezers(source of heat) to store perishable foods, why don't they have cellar/larder/cold stores ?

You can create a cold larder (north facing, sunless, perhaps half-buried in the earth bank behind) outside the envelope, with insulated internal door. Fridge/freezer cd live in there, if its back (radiator, compressor etc) could be sealed into a fresh air box ventilated to outside, or the fresh air box cd be part of the HRV's air intake so the fridge's electrical heat could help to warm the incoming air. Then the other 5 faces of the fridge wd help keep the larder nice and cold.

It was pretty common in the 18th century and earlier for larders to be sited on the north-east corner of the house with small unglazed windows with fly screens and thick walls. I visited a 17th century house recently that actually had a freshwater spring in the larder, keeping the room particularly cool.

Also wouldn't you need and airlock lobby to the (colder) pantry (perhaps off the main lobby), however doesn't this make meal preparation a bit of a backwards-and-forwards-doors-opening-and-closing-sort-of-affair...?

Sorry tony, first you would need to know the construction of biff's outhouse before passing judgement !.in winter the hot side should be inside the house.... in summer ?. but the cold side should always be in the coolest available room, outhouse, even cellar. Perhaps the hot side should preheat the hot-water supply or could we do without them altogether. Having built a house that requires little energy to heat/cool it, is the first step, next we need to rationalise all the other sources of wasted energy.

Thankyou, Tom. My freezer is in a massively built brick barn with no windows and a lot of ventilation. It is in the summertime coolest spot we have. In the winter the heat is not entirely wasted since it allows our fruit and vegetable store to remain frost-free.

To be honest wasn't actually thinking of using the fridge to heat he house on its own, just a bit of useful gain. Compared with the 'going-in-and-out-to-the-barn-in-winter' method would of thought that an efficient fridge might edge it....?

However.. I've not actually tried to source an A++ or "topten.ch" fridge..? Perhaps the 'going-in-and-out-to-the-barn-in-winter' method might have cost advantages...

we have put a north-facing larder on our wooden house, then picked up some lovely welsh slate when on holiday, to make the shelves, put a screened (no rats!) hole in the floor, and made zinc-panelled doors for it. It stays beautifully cool summer and winter and i keep almost all foodstuffs in it!